The Heart of a Puppet
by sandydragon
Summary: Even a puppet can find love and remember even though it causes him a lot of pain.


As Sasori knelt by Karura's grave, he couldn't imagine how much more unhappy he could possibly get. Life with the rest of the Akatsuki was getting more unbearable by the day even without the fact that Deidara was capturing his son at that moment. It was bad enough to lose his teammates, the love of his life, his parents, and even his home, but this crossed a major line. Sasori groaned softly as he slowly ran his fingers over Karura's tombstone. She would probably beat the living hell out of him if she was alive.

Karura had been the only person who understood him before. Yes Chiyo took good care of him, but even she could never quite understand Sasori's thoughts. Karura didn't realize how much Sasori loved her for a long time, but at least she knew how to treat him. On the battlefield, they could almost read each others minds and when Sasori wasn't fighting alongside her, she still worked well with him. Sasori almost never smiles now, but Karura always managed to coax a grin out of him even in the worst situations. Even after he left Suna, Karura still cared about him

Sasori wished he didn't know how much Karura missed him after he left. Even Yashamaru couldn't cheer her up for months. It wasn't until Takeo, the future kazekage, took notice of her that she dragged herself out of her depression. Takeo was strong, serious, and one of the best fighters in Suna at the time, so Karura couldn't have been more surprised when he actually started dating her. Takeo became the fourth kazekage after the war ended, but that didn't stop his love for Karura at first. Even though Karura still had a faint hope that Sasori would return, she married Takeo. Takeo carved time out of his busy schedule every day to spend some time with his beloved wife. Even after Temari and Kankuro were born, Takeo's love for Karura never faltered. It was only after Shukaku was captured that their relationship started to fall apart.

Takeo originally intended to use Shukaku's chakra to enhance some of his village's weapons so they could use their environment to their advantage. Takeo spent more time in meetings to discuss his plan, but Karura knew he only wanted to help their village. Sasori had been in the Akatsuki for a year or so when the meetings started. As fate would have it, his first mission was to spy on Suna for a few months. Though Sasori considered showing himself to Karura, he didn't want to interfere in her seemingly happy marriage. As the weeks passed, Takeo left Karura behind more and more until he was gone for days on end. Karura suffered as she watched one of the people she loved the most leave her again. As Sasori watched her become more and more depressed, he knew he couldn't let her suffer like that again.

Sasori snuck into Karura's bedroom at night when Takeo was off researching Shukaku. Though their reunion started off badly with a long argument and a painful smack in the head with a large meal fan, Sasori soon managed to get Karura to act like her old self. They caught each other up on the events of the last few years and gave each other much needed company. A month after they started meeting on a regular basis, Sasori finally admitted his feelings to Karura. Karura was shocked at first, but after thinking about how Takeo had been neglecting her, Karura entered into an ill fated relationship with Sasori. She realized she was pregnant shortly after, but Sasori had to leave for a while to report back to Yahiko and Konan. Then Suna's economy took a huge turn for the worse.

Takeo frantically tried to help his village, but things got worse every day. Within two months, the village elders started pressuring him to seal Shukaku into someone so the village would have a weapon to save the village. Takeo knew the host had to be part of his family due to village law. He knew he and his wife were too old to handle Shukaku and he didn't want to condemn his kids. Then he noticed Karura was pregnant. He only knew the father wasn't him, so, despite a long stream of curses from his wife, he sealed Shukaku into the unborn child.

Sasori knew he couldn't have returned earlier without arousing suspicion, but he still regretted his timing. He broke into the hospital the night the child was being born. If Karura wasn't in so much pain, she would have surely done some permanent damage to him right then. Instead she glared at him as hard as she could, but Sasori still stroked her hand softly and tried to calm her down. Eventually, she wound up crying on his shoulder. As they heard the doctors coming towards her room, they had no choice but to accept the fact that they would never see each other again. The very last thing Karura managed to tell Sasori was their son's name, Gaara.

Sasori knew all about how much his son had suffered over the years. He sighed as he slowly walked back to where Deidara was supposed to meet him. No matter how badly he wanted to save him, he knew his son was doomed. As Sasori glimpsed Deidara flying towards him with an unconscious Gaara, he made one last promise to Karura. Sasori knew he would suffer whether he went to heaven or hell, but he wanted Karura to know for sure how much pain Gaara's imminent demise caused him. As Deidara arrived as late as usual, Sasori promised that this horrible mission would be his last no matter what.


End file.
